WORCESTER -- The WPI men's swimming and diving team earned a second-place finish in the Worcester City Championships, highlighted by a 100 Fly title from freshman Christopher Smith (Northbridge, MA) in his first meet as an Engineer.
The second-place finish snapped a stretch of nine-straight titles for the men's squad though the team earned 31 top-five finishes on the weekend, including six runner-up placings and Smith's first-place finish.
Smith's finish came in the 100 Fly as he touched the wall in 52.77. Kyle Staubi (Red Hook, NY) was the next Engineer to finish in fourth place in 53.53 in the event. In addition to his 100 Fly victory, Smith took fourth in the 200 IM (2:01.58) and third in the 100 Back (56.31) at the event.
The WPI relay squads accounted for three second-place finishes and a third-place finish on the weekend, as the foursome of John Puksta (Nashua, NH), Staubi, Aidan Greenfield (East Northport, NY) and Smith started things off with a second-place finish in the 200 Free Relay in 1:30.15.
Smith, Owen Krause (Potomac Falls, VA), Staubi and Greenfield took third in the 400 Medley Relay (3:44.70), while Smith, Ashton Lyon (Loveland, CO), Staubi and Greenfield earned a second-place 200 Medley Relay finish (1:41.08). Smith, Greenfield, Matt Crane (Groton, MA) and Staubi closed things out with a second-place finish in the 400 Free Relay in 3:19.40.
In addition to the 100 Fly finish, Staubi also finished second in the 200 Fly in 2:01.41 and fifth in the 200 Back in 2:07.57 while Greenfield touched the wall in 49.66 in the 100 Free to take home third place.
Austin Aguirre (Santa Maria, CA) took home fifth in the 100 Back (56.60), fourth in the 200 Back (2:03.81) and third in the 200 Breast (2:17.53).
Alex Masiero (Richmond, MA) and Val Corrente (East Setauket, NY) finished in second and third place respectively in the one-meter dive with scores of 193.20 and 165.30 respectively. Additionally, the duo came in third and fourth place in the 3-meter dive with Masiero finishing third with a 181.43-point total and Corrente earning 171.83 points.
Holy Cross earned the win with 700 points while Clark rounded out the field with 225 points.
The team is back in action on Friday, Nov. 4 when it hosts a meet against Babson, Brandeis and Coast Guard beginning at 5:30pm.
